Lentil Sweet Potato Curry (Vegetarian!)

lentil and sweet potato curry served over rice with a lemon and cilantro.

Lentil Sweet Potato Curry (Vegetarian!)

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Thai

Keyword: lentil sweet potato curry

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 20

Total Time: 30

Servings:

Calories: 314kcal

Author: Megan Gilmore

If you need an easy vegetarian dinner idea, it doesn't get more flavorful than this Lentil Sweet Potato Curry. It's made with mostly pantry ingredients and cooks quickly, so it ready to eat in less than 30 minutes. Serve it with rice or quinoa for an easy plant-based meal!

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Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion , diced
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 garlic cloves , minced
1 inch fresh ginger , minced
1 medium sweet potato , cut into 1-inch cubes
1 cup dried red lentils
fine sea salt and black pepper
3 ½ cups vegetable broth or water
½ cup coconut milk
¼ cup freshly chopped cilantro

Instructions

Preheat a large pot over medium-high heat for 1 to 2 minutes. Once the surface is hot, add a drizzle of olive oil and saute the onion until it starts to soften, about 5 minutes. Add in the turmeric, curry powder, garlic, and ginger, and stir for 1 more minute, just until fragrant.
Add in the broth or water, lentils, sweet potatoes, 1 teaspoon of salt, and a ½ teaspoon of ground black pepper. Bring the liquid to a boil, then lower the heat and cover the pot. Cook until the lentils and sweet potatoes are both tender, about 15 minutes.
When the timer goes off, remove the lid and add the coconut milk and cilantro. Then taste the curry and adjust the seasoning as needed. I usually add more salt, about a ½ teaspoon at a time, but this will vary based on if you used broth or water. (When I recently made this, I used 2 ½ teaspoons of salt in total when using water as the base.) Serve with cooked rice or quinoa, plus a wedge of lemon on the side so you can add a fresh squeeze of juice as you serve.
Leftover curry can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. It will thicken when chilled, but the sauce will thin out again when you heat it up.

Video

Notes

Nutrition information is for 1 of 4 servings. This is automatically calculated using third-party software, so it's just an estimate, not a guarantee. For more accurate results, use the labels on your ingredients at home.

Lentil Note: Red lentils cook very quickly compared to other varieties. If you'd like to use green or brown lentils instead, you'll need to increase the cooking time to at least 30 minutes, which will make the sweet potatoes much softer.

See the full post for more additional notes & tips.

Nutrition